Sell Your Cartier

Yes — more than most signed jewelry. Cartier pieces are bought by collectors, not just for their gold and stones, so they sell well above scrap value. At FORTUNA, half of all Cartier lots sold since 2016 brought between $1,875 and $6,250, and forty sold for $20,000 or more. Vintage, Art Deco and diamond-set pieces hold value best; small plain-gold pieces hold it least.

Where the most collectors are bidding against each other. A dealer or online buyer sets one price. At auction, bidders in over 100 countries compete for your piece, and the sold price is published. For signed, vintage or diamond Cartier, that competition is what produced results like $237,500 for an Art Deco bracelet that had drawn a $50,000 cash offer.

Cartier boutiques do not generally buy back pre-owned pieces; if you want to be sure, ask your boutique. Your options are a dealer, an online buyer, a private sale, or consignment to auction. If you have Cartier’s own certificate and box, they add value at auction, but they are not required — most of the Cartier we sell arrives without them.

It depends on the collection, materials, condition and paperwork. The table on this page shows what each Cartier collection has sold for at FORTUNA — for example, plain gold Love bracelets around $4,400, diamond-pavé Love bracelets $20,000 and up, and Art Deco pieces far higher. For your piece, send photos and a specialist will give you a preliminary valuation at no cost, usually within 24 hours.

No. Most Cartier pieces we sell come without them — only 25 of the 602 Cartier lots FORTUNA has sold were cataloged with box and papers. We authenticate the piece itself from its signatures, serial number and construction. If you do have the box, certificate or receipt, send them with the piece; they raise buyer confidence and usually the price.

Our seller’s commission is presented upfront and agreed between you and FORTUNA before any item is listed — it’s locked in when we issue your consignment agreement, not discovered later. The rate is sometimes negotiable for higher-value or in-demand pieces, or for consignors bringing us large collections or full estates. Most of our fee comes from the buyer’s premium, so the seller’s commission stays modest by design.

The reserve is the minimum price we will accept as a winning bid for an item. We work with a consignor on each and every item to set an appropriate reserve price, and that price is kept confidential. It is important that reserve prices not be too high, otherwise the item will never sell — and it also cannot be too low, or there is a risk the item may sell for a price that’s too low. This is where our expertise and global market experience come into play. Our experts will guide you through the process and work with you to set reserves as needed.

If you just want a rough idea of what your items are worth, we can usually give you that from photos alone. To actually consign, we need the pieces in hand — we photograph, catalog, and market every item to a global buyer pool. Your items are fully insured from the moment they leave your hands, and while in our care they’re stored in a high-security fully-insured vault.

We can return them to you, or attempt to sell again in another auction, or perhaps try another channel altogether — such as a Buy Now listing. You’re never charged a fee for unsold lots, unlike at many other auction houses.